republicans because of the impasse on taxes. at first the republicans refused to raise any revenue at all. then they said we'll agree to raise a small amount of revenue but only in return for making all of the bush tax cuts permanent at a cost are $4 trillion, lowering tax rates for wealthy people even below the bush levels, paying more that by closing a bunch of loopholes. what that would have meant is that the two opportunities for a revenue contribution to a big deficit reduction package, the bush high end tax rates and closing loopholes would both be gone for the next decade for a paltry amount of revenue. the alternative path is what the bowles/simpson commission laid out, what the bipartisan senate gang of six laid out, that had revenue increases about eight times the most the republicans offered in the super committee. what was striking to me, matt, was that the democratic offers in the super committee were to the right. to the republican side of both